I forgot my bananas this morning, so perhaps I was running low on sugar and that rendered the end of the second half difficult. The first match was delayed due to a touch-and-go decision on a frozen pitch, so one always wonders whether the teams left waiting for 15 minutes start with frustration.
It also just seemed to be one of those days where players come together at strange angles and you don't ever have an ideal view. That said, I had managed the U15 clash for about 75 minutes with relative ease, having calmed the home CAR down once or twice (e.g. explaining I am not obliged to signal to a GK that I am about to blow the whistle), spoken to the home captain about a player close to a booking, and fulfilled one's trivial duties. The home team have a tendency to boil over at stressful moments, and in the past I haven't always dealt with dissent assiduously. I sometimes palm off complaints/questions rather than thinking, "this has strayed into dissent".
The theme of the day was probably strikers who flap and go down a bit easily (one U13 lad, having won a penalty, began to bait defenders in a similar way). Maybe I will have to keep a closer eye on simulation, which I haven't experienced much in the junior age groups hitherto.
Typically, then, in injury time, a striker, whom I had cautioned for delaying the restart a minute earlier, chased a ball played to him on the counter; he was bearing down on goal, about a 12 yards out. I was a bit on top of the incident, and it seemed to me that the ball was within playing distance for a fair defensive charge, which is how I saw the subsequent contact. I cut grass pretty quickly, but obviously since the teams were drawing late in the game and it would have been DOGSO & penalty, I received some grief. I spoke to a player about a "you'd have given that in our box" comment; he escaped a red. Perhaps the striker's propensity to appeal for everything and initiate contact unconsciously played a part in the decision. And arguably I could have saved myself all the trouble by pulling the three card trick when he was reluctant to retreat 10 yards even after a caution.
I think I could do with a couple more years of \<under 18 before considering promotion. Having enough fuel for two matches would help!
It also just seemed to be one of those days where players come together at strange angles and you don't ever have an ideal view. That said, I had managed the U15 clash for about 75 minutes with relative ease, having calmed the home CAR down once or twice (e.g. explaining I am not obliged to signal to a GK that I am about to blow the whistle), spoken to the home captain about a player close to a booking, and fulfilled one's trivial duties. The home team have a tendency to boil over at stressful moments, and in the past I haven't always dealt with dissent assiduously. I sometimes palm off complaints/questions rather than thinking, "this has strayed into dissent".
The theme of the day was probably strikers who flap and go down a bit easily (one U13 lad, having won a penalty, began to bait defenders in a similar way). Maybe I will have to keep a closer eye on simulation, which I haven't experienced much in the junior age groups hitherto.
Typically, then, in injury time, a striker, whom I had cautioned for delaying the restart a minute earlier, chased a ball played to him on the counter; he was bearing down on goal, about a 12 yards out. I was a bit on top of the incident, and it seemed to me that the ball was within playing distance for a fair defensive charge, which is how I saw the subsequent contact. I cut grass pretty quickly, but obviously since the teams were drawing late in the game and it would have been DOGSO & penalty, I received some grief. I spoke to a player about a "you'd have given that in our box" comment; he escaped a red. Perhaps the striker's propensity to appeal for everything and initiate contact unconsciously played a part in the decision. And arguably I could have saved myself all the trouble by pulling the three card trick when he was reluctant to retreat 10 yards even after a caution.
I think I could do with a couple more years of \<under 18 before considering promotion. Having enough fuel for two matches would help!
